Casper Bear Relocated

A yearling black bear spotted roaming near Casper at the base of Casper Mountain last week has a new home. Robin Kepple, an information specialist with Wyoming Game and Fish, says the bear was safely relocated southeast of town.

Kepple said the agency was “able to tranquilize the bear and we took him up into the Laramie Peak range south of Glenrock and released him.” She added that “as of Saturday morning, the bear was last seen going south into the mountains.”

Kepple says, with hot and dry conditions not yielding enough edible vegetation in the mountains, she’s not surprised to see bear activity so close to Casper. Kepple also says the bear likely followed a creek into town while looking for food and shelter.

“They’ll kind of follow the creeks and suddenly find themselves in town,” Kepple said. “They get a little spooked and don’t know what to do.”

Kepple says, upon its capture, the bear did not appear to be conditioned toward looking at humans as a food source.